


David Gets a Date

by UpsideAround



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Gen, Humor, Max in School, Somewhat Max-Centric, dadvid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-10
Updated: 2017-09-10
Packaged: 2018-12-25 22:53:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12045999
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UpsideAround/pseuds/UpsideAround
Summary: “Max—” David snatched the phone out of Max’s grip. “I’m not going to ask her out again. She told me she wasn’t interested, and I’m going to respect her wishes.”Max almost tore out his hair. Instead, he jumped on top of his chair. “Goddamnit, David! She is obviously into you! You’ve got to stop being so considerate all the damn time!”





	David Gets a Date

**Author's Note:**

> I did not expect this to become long...but this fic grabbed me by the ankles and wouldn't let me make it short
> 
> Marked "Gen" because the crux of this story is supposed to be Max and his character. 
> 
> Related PSA: all things with friendship in them are not gen, gen is when the friendship/platonic relationship is the main aspect of the story.

David was on a date.

Coffee really wasn’t his thing, but he knew Sydney liked it, so he suggested a local coffee shop, Cafe Diem, for their date.

So he ordered his hot chocolate, and sat and waited.

A small bell chimed, and David glanced up towards the door of the shop. Sydney walked in, her hair windblown. Her nose was bright pink, left exposed to the cold winter air; her scarf wrapped around her neck.

David sat up straight, grinning and waving at her.

Sydney caught his eye and smiled, raising her hand in return. She unwrapped herself from her scarf and walked forward to the cashier, looking up at the menu board.

David sighed and turned his attention back to his hot chocolate. He took a sip, relishing in the hot chocolaty flavor dancing across his tounge.

“Hi.”

David looked up. Sydney was sliding into the seat across from him.

“Hey,” he said, quickly putting down his drink and smiling at her. “How are you?”

“I’m fine," Sydney said, shrugging off her coat, "how about you?”

David shrugged. “Pretty good. Thanks so much for agreeing to meet with me.”

Sydney laughed gently. “It’s no problem. What did you want to meet about?”

“Oh, I just wanted to get to know you better. I hope that’s okay?” David leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table.

Sydney shrugged off her coat. “Sure, that sounds fine to me.”

“Great,” David said, leaning back in his chair. “So, tell me about yourself.”

“Well,” Sydney said, pressing her hands together, “I love music. When I was a kid, it was the only thing that kept me going to school.”

David gasped. “I play guitar!”

Sydney grinned. “I'm not surprised. You seem the type.”

A short silence fell. 

David sighed through his grin. “Wow, I’m so glad we’re doing this. I really haven’t been on a date since I started fostering Max.”

Sydney went stock-still. Her hands tensed and she withdrew back into herself, gripping her own forearms. 

David kept smiling at her, but a knot began to tie itself in his stomach. Hot dread began to creep up the back of his neck. 

Sydney blinked at him. “I…” She cleared her throat. “I’m sorry, but I don’t think I can do this.”

David jerked back. “Wait, what?”

“I thought I was ready—I’m so sorry—I didn’t know this was a date and I thought I could give it a shot but—”

David was frozen. 

Sydney started picking up her purse. “You seem like a really great guy, but don’t think I want—I don’t think I can—” She put her coat on. “You know what I mean.”

“No, I don’t,” David said, tensed back in his chair, his hand gripping his hot chocolate, holding it tight against his chest.

“I’ll see you around,” Sydney said. She gave David a curt nod before turning and walking away.

The bell tinged as she opened the door and walked out.

 

* * *

 

The lock clicked as David turned his key and swung the door open. He stepped inside and sighed.

“David’s back!” an older woman called out over her shoulder, walking into the main area.

“Thank you so much for watching Max,” David said, pulling some change out of his pocket.

He tried to hand the money to her, but she waved him off.

“You don’t have to pay me. What are neighbors for?” She picked up her purse from the couch.

David relaxed slightly. “I really can’t thank you enough.”

“Then don’t,” she said, waving at him as she walked out the door. “Bye Max!” she shouted past David.

“Good riddance!” Max’s voice came muffled from a few rooms back.

The woman sighed. “He’s a handful, isn’t he?”

“Yeah,” David said. “He’s definitely an extraordinary kid.”

The woman nodded at David. “Well, call me if you need me to watch Max again.” She started walking away from the door, waving.

“Will do!” David called after her.

He waved for a moment before stepping back inside and closing the door behind him.

“How was your _date_?” Max said, sliding into the living room on his socks.

“It was…” David shook off his coat and slung it onto the hook, “fine.” He stared at the wall in front of him, not turning around to face Max.

Max walked into David’s eyesight, between David and the wall. “Really? Only fine?” Max crossed his arms and stood on his toes to get up into David’s face.

David shrugged. “We didn’t really hit it off, but that’s bound to happen on some dates. The important thing is that I keep my head up until I find someone who really likes me!” He smiled down at Max.

Max scoffed and walked away. “God, you’re lame.”

“Dinner in an hour, Max, and you’re helping me set the table this time,” David called after him.

Max waved him off. “Yeah, yeah, yeah.”

David smiled and put his hands on his hips. He nodded to himself before jumping into a stride to the kitchen.

 —

Max hated school.

Sure, the material wasn’t so bad, but he was surrounded by a bunch of idiots who didn’t know how to behave themselves.

Jimmy was gross. Tommy was stupid. Shaun kept trying to steal Max’s homework, the lazy ass. Kelsey was loud. Ceci was annoying. Shannon never fucking shut up about horses.

Ms. Narron was the worst.

It was always “Don’t touch that, Max” and “stop being mean to Ceci, Max” and “you’re disrupting the class, Max”.

Okay, maybe he was disrupting the class on purpose, but only because he couldn’t stand her constant goddamn cheer.

Nine AM is too early for good morning songs. If Max had to hear “gilly gilly gilly good morning” one more time, he was going to lose it.

Of course, he said that every morning. And the next morning, he was always back in his seat, sulking.

Today was just another goddamn morning.

“Good morning, everybody!” Ms. Narron said, waltzing into the class. “Today is gonna be a great day! We’re learning about earthquakes, volcanos, and the tectonic plates! But first—” she paused, her finger raised, “Let’s all say good morning to each other!”

Everybody jumped out of their seats. A small cheer erupted from the back of the classroom. Max crossed his arms and kept himself firmly planted in his seat.

“Max? Are you going to sing with us today?” Ms. Narron said, looking over at him.

“Nope.”

“Okay, well maybe next time,” Ms. Narron said. “For the rest of us—one, two, three—”

 _“Gilly gilly gilly good morning,_  
_Good morning, good morning,_  
Gilly gilly gilly good morning  
Good morning to—YOU!  
Midi-mack midi-mack midi midi midi mack,  
Midi-mack midi-mack in the morning,  
Midi-mack midi-mack midi midi midi mack,  
Midi-mack midi-mack in the morning!”

Max sighed. He could already tell it was gonna be a long day. Whenever they started with a “good morning song” (yes, there was more than one), he knew that day was going to last a particularly long time. At least it would feel that way.

He somehow made it through the morning.

During lunch, he used his plastic spoon as a catapult to send the carrots that David had packed in his lunch flying toward the assistant principal standing watch over all the kids.

Max shot a carrot over, snickering when it struck the assistant principal in the forehead. He turned back to his lunch quickly, pretending to be busy eating.

“That’s mean, Max.”

“Shut up, Ceci,” Max said, breaking another carrot into catapult-able pieces.

Ceci knocked the carrot out of Max’s hands. “I’m serious! Stop being mean.”

Max picked up a different carrot, loaded it into his spoon, held it back and shot it at Ceci point-blank.

Ceci huffed and whined, but quit bothering him.

Specials came after lunch. Today, it was music day.

Max hated the music classroom. The walls peeled, and 80% of the time he ended up getting paired with loud Kelsey.

Kelsey would be on the edge of her seat the whole class period. She would let out this high-pitched shriek the whole class period long. Her lips were shut, but that didn’t stop the ringing in Max’s ears.

Maybe Max was imagining it, but it always seemed to get higher and louder whenever the teacher passed out instruments to play along.

At least Kelsey was more tolerable once they went back to their regular class.

Every day just led to another goddamn day at school. There was no escaping it. At least at camp, he had Nikki and Neil to conspire with, but at Briarcliff Elementary, there was no escaping the other students. There was no avoid the teachers. Everyone was on his back, about everything, all the damn time, and Max hated all of them.

—

David drove Max to school.

He felt bad about it, busses were way more efficient and he knew he was wasting gas by driving on a regular basis. School busses could get upwards of 150 miles per gallon per student, much more efficient than a car getting 80 miles per gallon per passenger. Busses were better for the environment, and David felt like he was betraying Mother Earth every time he got in his car.

The only issue was, he had driven Max on his first week, and Max made it obvious he had been expecting to be driven every day.

David kept telling himself he would sit Max down and explain why he should take the bus, but he never got around to it.

“Have a great day at school, Max!” David said, waving at Max as he hopped out of the car.

Max shut the car door. “Whatever you say, David.”

“I know you’ll make it a great day!”

Max shoved his hands into his hoodie. “Goodbye.”

David waved again and drove off.

He was halfway home when he glanced over to the passenger seat to see Max’s lunchbox sitting there.

“Oh, son of a biscuit,” he said, pulling into a parking lot to turn around.

He switched back into drive and pulled out of the parking lot, heading back toward the school.

He didn’t make it very far that direction, either.

He’d been driving for only a couple minutes when he saw a car stalled out and parked on the side of the road. He slowed down as he drove closer, trying to get a better look at what was going on.

There was someone sitting next to the car, hunched over and tense. The sight of it tore David’s heart. He had no idea what was going on, but nobody got out of their car to sit on the side of the road, hunched over, unless something was really wrong.

David slowed down even more. Should he call 911? Drive off and hope that some kind-hearted person would pull over and help this person?

If he didn’t, who would?

He glanced at Max’s lunchbox. They didn’t go to lunch until 11:30, so he had time.

David couldn’t help it. He pulled over.

“Hey,” he said, jogging over once he got out of his car, “Do ya need a jumpstart or something?”

The person looked up.

David blinked and stopped walking. “Oh, it’s you.”

Sydney groaned and waved her hands in the air. “It’s me, surprise, surprise.”

David stepped forward slowly. Her face was red and puffy. David’s heart twinged when he noticed the tear tracks on her cheeks.

“Are you okay?”

Sydney scoffed. “Physically? I guess so. Emotionally? I’m about to lose my job so take a wild fucking guess.”

“Why? What’s going on?”

Sydney sighed. “I had to do a bunch of very important reports, because the district needed reports for some reason, and they were in my car and blew out of the goddamn window. I pulled over as fast as I could, but every last one of them. Gone.”

David looked up from Sydney to take stock of the environment around him.

“My boss is gonna kill me,” she groaned, dropping her head into her hands. “I’m gonna be late, and I won’t even have the reports she asked me to do.”

David reached out to put his hand on her shoulder, but pulled back and pressed his hands to his side instead. “I think we can get this figured out. How many pages were the reports?”

Sydney scoffed. “There’s twenty five of them.”

David nodded. “Right.” He spun around and dashed down the street, snatching up papers as he went.

He ran back, straightening up the parts of the papers that were crumpled. “Here,” he said, handing her the stack. “Here’s five. I can search to find the rest. You get to work on time.”

Sydney looked up at him. “Really? That won’t make you late for your own job?”

David shrugged. “I work from home.” He held his hand out to her. “You’ve got this.”

Sydney looked at his outstretched hand for a moment. She took it, and David hauled her up.

“Okay,” she said, shaking herself. She pulled her car keys out of her pocket. “Okay.”

David grinned. “I’ll have those reports for you by lunchtime!”

Sydney sighed. “Thank you so much.”

David waved her off. “Don’t thank me, get going before you’re actually late.”

“Yeah, you’re right,” Sydney said, running toward her car. “See you around.”

Sydney’s car started, and David watched her pull off the shoulder and back onto the street.

“See you around,” he said to an empty road.

He inhaled slowly, breathing in the icy air. “Right,” he said to himself. “Let’s get going.”

He turned around and didn’t see a single paper in sight. Oh god, what on earth had possessed him to volunteer to do this? There was no way he was going to be able to get it done.

“No, that’s a stupid thought,” he said aloud. “Negativity isn’t going to get me anywhere. Now, let’s see about these papers.”

David started walking down one section of the road. “It’s like those camp scavenger hunts, really, and I was always pretty good at those, so this should be easy. If I was a paper, where would I go?”

He looked around, imagining where Sydney’s car used to be.

“Okay, so it probably took her awhile to notice the wind, right? Or at least to pull over, so—” he turned around to face the other direction— “my best bet is probably this way.”

He started walking down the street in the other direction. It wasn’t long until he saw a sheet of paper settled in a pile of leaves. He picked it up, and looked around.

There was another. And another. And another.

Each paper he found led him to find another, and soon enough, he had a whole stack of them. He flipped through them, counting 19. That was a total of 24, including the five he had found and given to Sydney earlier.

He looked at his watch. He still needed to get Max’s lunch to him before lunchtime.

David searched frantically for the next five minutes, but came up empty.

 

When he gave Sydney the papers he found, he apologized profusely for not being able to get all of them.

She didn’t say anything, just gasped a little and took the papers carefully from David’s hands.

“Really, I looked, but I couldn’t find the last one,” David said.

Sydney looked up from the papers she held in her hands. “No, this is great. I can’t thank you enough.”

“Wha—really?”

Sydney nodded. “I have to get back, but feel free to text me anytime.”

She smiled at David, and his heart soared.

—

“Who’s Sydney?” Max asked, shoveling mashed potatoes into his mouth.

“Don’t talk with your mouth full,” David said. “Sydney is the lady I had a date with last week.”

Max swallowed his bite. “The one that wasn’t into you?”

“You remember that?”

Max scoffed and pulled out David’s phone. “Well, she’s obviously into you now. I don’t know what changed, but there’s a lot of flirting goin’ on here.”

“How do you—wait, is that my phone?”

“Damn right it is,” Max said, opening up David’s texts. “Exhibit A: when you said that you liked to go camping on long weekends, she responded with _I’d love to go with you sometime_. I don’t know why the fuck someone would want to go camping with you unless they were into you.”

“Max, give me my phone back,” David said, holding his hand out.

“Give your phone a passcode. You snooze, you lose.” Max scrolled up on the screen. “Exhibit B: she told you it was cute when you tell her to be safe on her drives. It’s not cute, it’s fucking creepy. At least for normal people.”

“Max—” David snatched the phone out of Max’s grip. “I’m not going to ask her out again. She told me she wasn’t interested, and I’m going to respect her wishes.”

Max almost tore out his hair. Instead, he jumped on top of his chair. “Goddamnit, David! She is obviously into you! You’ve got to stop being so considerate all the damn time!”

Max stood on his chair, breathing heavily for a moment before sitting back down. He felt David’s eyes searing into him.

“What would you have me do?” David asked.

Max looked up. “Huh?”

David shrugged. “Assuming she likes me. What would you want me to do?”

“Ask her out, run away together, fake your own deaths, and leave me the apartment in your will,” Max said, ticking off his list on his fingers.

David sighed and smiled at Max. “Not a chance, Max.”

Max shrugged and slouched back in his chair. “I had to try. Can I be excused?”

David nodded. “Go ahead.”

“Sweet,” Max said, climbing out of his chair.

He threw his plate in the sink as he left.

—

David paced the living room floor, tossing his phone between his hands. He stopped, unlocked his phone, stared at Sydney's contact name, locked his phone and resumed his pacing.

“No,” he said to himself, “this is a bad idea.”

He turned around.

“But what if it isn’t? What if she actually likes me now?”

He started pacing again.

“I told Max I’d do this,” he said, taking a deep breath. “Okay, three, two, one—”

He clicked the call button.

He pressed his phone up to his ear as the phone rang.

_“Hello?”_

“Hey!” David said, pressing the phone closer to his ear and sitting on the couch.

_“Why are you calling?”_

“I, um.” David swallowed. “Well, I know our last date didn’t go well, but I wanted to see if you were willing to try another date.”

There was a sigh from across the line. Then—

_“Yes, actually that sounds really nice.”_

David jumped up from the couch. “Excellent! Well, there’s a group that’s putting on a version of Into the Woods, that’s a musical, but they’re performing it outdoors. How does that sound?”

David heard Sydney laugh. _“Sure, sounds great.”_

“Awesome! I’ll text you all the details, then!”

_“Oh, and David?”_

“Hmm?”

_“I just wanted to apologize for leaving like that last week. I haven’t dated in awhile, and when you mentioned Max, I guess it just reminded me of, well…”_

David heard Sydney take a tense breath. “Oh, no, you don’t have to tell me why,” David blurted out. “At least, not yet. You don’t have to tell me anything you’re not comfortable with.”

A short laugh came from across the line. _“You’re a good guy, David.”_

David grinned. “I try.”

_“Bye, David. I’ll see you soon.”_

David grinned. “See ya.”

The call disconnected.

David set down his phone carefully before jumping again. He pressed his hands over his face. He couldn’t help it—he was grinning like an idiot.

“Okay,” he said aloud. “Okay, pull yourself together and text her the information.”

He sent her a quickly crafted message with the date, time, location, and the fact that he would be willing to drive.

 _See you Friday!_ She responded _. It’ll save gas if I’m the one to drive. Text me your address?_

“Oh my gosh,” David said to himself, “Sweet and environmentally conscious? Wow.”

This girl was amazing, he decided. He couldn't wait for Friday.

—

It was Friday, and David was putting on his coat and picking up various items around his room that he might need on his date. Max was sitting irritably on David’s bed.

“Okay, Max, what’s my cell phone number?”

“1-800-tree hugger.”

David turned around and narrowed his eyes. “Max, what if something happens and you need to call me?”

Max crossed his arms. “637-5656. Are we done yet?”

David shook his head. “Nope, not yet. If the phone rings, what do you do?”

Max sighed. “Pick it up and tell them you’re not available.”

David nodded. “Right. Don’t—”

“—Don’t tell them you’re not here or I might get kidnapped and murdered, yes, I know.”

“What if someone comes to the door?”

“Look out my window to see if I know them.”

“And you know where the pot pies are?”

Max huffed. “God, you act like I don’t live here. And before you ask, yes, I know how to work the microwave. I’m not three.”

David kneeled next to his bed, at Max’s level. “Max, you told me you could handle being home alone. I trust you, but you have to prove me right.”

Max rolled his eyes. “Yeah, okay.”

David scooted closer. “Max, I’m making a radical decision, letting you stay home alone. That being said, I’m just a phone call away. And Mrs. Brown is right next door if you need anything at all.”

Max scoffed. “I hate Mrs. Brown.”

David sighed and got back on his feet. “Well, that’s good incentive for you not to make a mess while I’m gone.”

The doorbell rang.

“I’ll get it,” Max said, speeding down the hall and running toward the door.

He swung the door open.

Wait.

“Ms. Narron?” he said, taking a step back.

Max heard David’s footsteps come down the hall. “Oh! Sydney! You’re here!”

Max spun around. “You’re dating my fucking teacher?”

David put his hands on his hips. “Max, language.” He started to walk toward Ms. Narron.

Max jumped between them. “Nope! I change my mind! She isn’t into you, David. Take it back.”

David took a step backwards. “Take what back?”

Max pinched the bridge of his nose. “Your date,” he said, pointing between them.

Ms. Narron looked at David. “I don’t think you can un-ask somebody out,” she said.

“You’re right.” David looked back to Max. “It would be very rude to cancel when I was the one to ask her out.”

Max glared at the both of them. “Fine! Go on your stupid date. See if I care.” He turned and stalked off.

“Max—” David called after him.

Max rounded the corner and slipped into his room. He heard the door close and watched out his window as David and his teacher got into a car and drove off.

He didn’t care. Really, he didn’t. David was a grown-ass adult, and he could date whoever he wanted.

The only issue was that Max never liked Ms. Narron. She always gave way too much attention to the other idiots in class. She was happy-go-lucky and cheery, but Max had never felt like she had cared. And David? He cared about everything.

That’s why Max had to get them to break up.

—

“Look what I made!” Kelsey said, jumping into the classroom and holding up a tin can.

Max and a few other students shuffled to their desks, but a few kids crowded around Kelsey.

“Wow, Kelsey, what is it?”

“That looks so cool.”

“Can I hold it?”

“It’s my very own instrument,” Kelsey said proudly. “I put rubber bands on the top so I can play it like a guitar. See?”

Max sunk lower into his chair. Where was the teacher that was supposed to keep everybody in order?

A cheer arose from the clump of students as Kelsey started to pluck her rubber bands. Max shoved his fingers in his ears.

Unfortunately, that didn’t block the sounds of all the _oooh_ s and _ahhh_ s coming from Kelsey’s fan club. Kelsey had a stupid grin on her face, and there was far too much noise coming from that corner of the room. Nobody was at their desks.

Well, if Ms. Narron was gonna ignore this mess, Max was gonna have to shut this down himself.

Max hopped out of his desk and began walking toward Kelsey. She was holding the “instrument” gingerly on her palm, all the other students watching her carefully.

“Oops,” Max said, walking past and knocking the tin can out of her hands.

The can hit the floor, bounced a few times, denting the can and sending the rubberbands flying.

Kelsey immediately started wailing.

“Max!”

Max wheeled around to see Ms. Narron’s face glaring down at him. He raised his hand to wave slightly.

“Go to the hall and wait for me there. We need to have a talk,” She said, pointing to the door.

Max rolled his eyes. “Fine. Whatever.” He huffed and made his way to the door.

The door clicked shut behind him. He hopped up into the desk that was sitting in the hall. He swung his legs and glared at the desk in front of him, sulking.

The door swung open and shut again. Max glanced up.

Ms. Narron was pulling a chair behind her. She set it next to the desk Max was sitting at and took a seat.

“Max, I know you don’t like me, but you can’t keep taking it out on the other kids. Sometimes, you just need to let other kids have their fun. You really hurt Kelsey’s feelings, and I expect you to apologize.”

Max scoffed. “Yeah, I’ll apologize. You’d just love that, wouldn’t you?”

“Max.”

Max glanced up at Ms. Narron.

“Music is very important to Kelsey. When we have music class, she’s much happier for the rest of the day.”

Max blinked. He had noticed that Kelsey was less obnoxious on the days they had music.

Ms. Narron rested her elbows on the desk. “I’m sure you can understand. There’s got to be something that important for you.”

Max’s fingertips pressed into his palms. “Of course you don’t know what I like,” he mumbled.

“Say that again, Max?”

Max rolled his eyes. “I said—” he sat up in his seat, “Of course you don’t know what I like. You don’t fucking pay attention to what people like. You just change your mind about who you like, not like you care about what other people like.”

Ms. Narron blinked and pulled back slightly. “Is this because I started dating David?”

Max huffed. “No,” he said, throwing his hands in the air, “why the fuck are you dating David? He never shuts up, he reads cereal boxes for fun, he wakes up at the crack of dawn, he definitely cares way too fucking much, and he would probably fuck a tree if he had the chance.”

“Language, Max.”

Max rolled his eyes.

Ms. Narron scooted her chair closer. “Max, if it really makes you that uncomfortable, I don’t have to keep seeing him.”

“You—what?” Max said, his hands dropping slightly.

Ms. Narron nodded. “You have a say, too. He’s your dad, after all.”

Max scoffed. “He’s not my—you know what? Go ahead and break up with him,” Max said, slouching back into his chair and crossing his arms. “See if I care.”

Ms. Narron stood up. “You’re in time-out for ten minutes for your behavior in the class today. I expect that you can return to the class without disruption.”

Max looked up at her. She raised her eyebrows before nodding and slipping back into the classroom.

Max slid further down in his seat. This was gonna be a long ten minutes.

—

“I am just so excited for this date I am planning for me and Sydney,” David exclaimed, jumping over to the table, plates in hand.

He tossed the plates to their spots on the table. “I think I’ll take her to that bridge outside of town—You know the one where you can see all the stars?”

Max scoffed. “David, what makes you think I want to hear about your hopeless romantic stuff?”

David paused mid step and slowly lowered himself into a seat. “You’re right, Max.” He put his hands on the table. “What did you—”

_Bzzt. Bzzt._

David jumped at his phone buzzing on the table. He picked his phone up. “Oh! This is Sydney! One moment, Max.”

David pressed his phone to his ear. “Hey! I was just talking about you.”

David glanced at Max. “Yeah, we were about to sit down for dinner. No—I’ve got a few minutes before the pizza is done. What’s up?”

There was a long silence. Max watched as the grin fell off David’s face and he deflated into the back of his chair.

“Oh,” David said, quieter this time. “Yeah, I completely understand.”

There was a pause. Max found himself leaning forward in his seat, his hands gripping onto the edge of the table.

“No, thank you for calling,” David said. “I’ll talk to you later. Bye.”

David turned off his phone and set it back onto the table. He shook himself and that grin was placed right back on his face. “So, where were we?”

Max sighed and sat back in his chair. He stared at David, not really sure how he was feeling. _I guess she actually did it_ , he thought. _Huh_.

—

Ceci stole Max’s spoon.

Max had been enjoying himself, shooting balls of napkin at the assistant principal, when Ceci just snatched the spoon right out of his hands.

Max scowled at her. Ceci just crossed her arms decisively and gave him a smug grin.

“You’re an idiot if you don’t think that my crazy, overbearing David, didn’t give me spare spoons,” Max said, slipping out of his seat. “I’ve just got to get back to the classroom to get them.”

Ceci rolled her eyes. “Good luck getting past Ms. Narron.”

“Teachers eat in the teacher’s lounge, Ceci. I’m not an idiot.”

Max waited until the assistant principal wasn’t looking before running out of the cafeteria and down the hall.

He slowed down as he approached the classroom. The door was cracked open. Max slipped his fingers behind the door and opened it carefully. He took a few steps into the dark classroom.

“No,” Ms. Narron said. “No, there’s got to be a way around it.”

Max ducked into the corner. He pressed up against the wall, where Ms. Narron couldn’t see him. He slowly untensed and peaked around the corner to see what was going on. Ms. Narron was talking on the phone.

“I know you have to make cuts but—Oh. Yes. Yes, I see.”

Max could see Sydney wrapping and unwrapping the cord around her hand.

“I could give you the money. How much does it cost to keep the music program open?”

Max blinked. What the hell was going on?

“Ten thous—Holy—No, don’t try and talk me out of this. These kids, for some of them, the music program is the only reason they want to come to school. I’ll manage.”

Max jerked back. The school was getting rid of music class?

“Frankly, Chad, I don’t give a shit. I’ve already had a kid who quite literally lost her future. You’re gonna let me give these kids a fighting chance or so help me—I’ll go straight to the superintendent with this.”

Max tensed. He wasn’t supposed to be hearing this. He slipped out of the classroom, sneakers silent against the tile floor.

He didn’t know what to think. Sydney was, what, donating half her salary to keep music class alive? Who the fuck cares that much?

Max stopped cold in the middle of the hallway. He only knew one other person who cared that much, and he had just made Sydney break up with him.

—

Max hung back after the students were dismissed to go home that day. He pressed his hands into his pockets. He knew what he needed to do, but that didn’t mean he had to like it.

Ms. Narron was erasing the whiteboard. She hadn’t noticed Max hadn’t left yet.

“Sydney?” Max said, tugging on Ms. Narron’s shirt.

Ms. Narron turned around. “Please call me Ms. Narron at school, Max. Shouldn’t you be catching your bus?”

Max shrugged. “David picks me up.”

Ms. Narron put down her eraser. “Okay, well, what’s up?”

Max folded his arms. “Sydney, you have to take David back.”

Ms. Narron bent down to Max’s level. “Are you sure?”

Max huffed. “Yes. He’s a big baby and cares too much, but—” he forced himself to unclench his fists and press his hands flat against his pants, “I mean you seem like you care too much. Davey is an idiot and he’ll burn out without someone watching him. Birds of a feather need to flock together, or some bullshit like that.” Max avoided Ms. Narron’s eye contact.

A pause stretched between them.

“Oh god, you’re smiling fondly, aren’t you?” Max said, rolling his eyes back to Ms. Narron. “It’s not that deep!”

Ms. Narron sighed. “Okay, Max.”

—

“I can’t believe you picked this place out. This is one of my favorite places to eat!” David exclaimed, picking up his glass.

Sydney grinned. “I know, right? The soup just warms you to the core, the bread is wonderful—”

“—And the pasta is even better the second day,” they said simultaneously.

David grinned. “I’m glad we’re in agreement. Thanks again for deciding to give me another, another shot.”

Sydney shrugged. “Don’t thank me, thank Max.”

David blinked. “Max? What’s he got to do with it?”

“He picked up on the fact that you were upset, and told me to ‘take you back’,” Sydney said, using air quotes for Max’s words.

David smiled and bowed his head for a moment. He looked back up. “What can I say, he’s an intelligent kid.”

Sydney inhaled and exhaled slowly. “Of course, he’s also the reason I called it off in the first place.”

David’s head jerked to the side. “What?”

“Yeah,” Sydney said, running her hand through her hair. “He was being a pain during class, and when I took him outside to talk about it, it was obvious he was doing it to spite me.”

David raised his eyebrows. “So what did you do?”

“I asked him if it was because we were dating. He didn’t say it was, but you know how it is. You can tell that he actually does care, even if he says he doesn’t.”

David sighed. “Yeah,” he said, staring just beyond Sydney’s head.

“I’m glad he has someone like you in his life, David.”

David smiled and focused on Sydney once again. “I’m glad he’s in my life, too. And—” he raised his glass— “I’m glad you came into my life.”

Sydney’s eyes squinted. “Eh…”

David set his glass down and leaned back, raising his hands. “Too soon?”

A grin fought it’s way onto Sydney’s face. She snorted and started to laugh. “No, not at all.”

David sighed and let his arms fall back onto the table.

Sydney snickered again. “Come on, let’s clink glasses,” she said, raising her glass.

David lifted his glass. He held it back, looking at it, his brow furrowed.

“To Max,” he decided, lifting his glass toward Sydney’s.

“To Max,” Sydney agreed.

 _Clink_.

**END**

**Author's Note:**

> Please let me know what you think! I appreciate all forms of feedback :)
> 
> Quick PSA for other fic authors: ao3 volunteers have to sort your tags into different categories, so avoid talking in the tags whenever possible


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